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Friday, February 15, 2013

Big Money and More: What We're Reading This Morning: Feb. 15

- The Cleveland Leader reports that the state of Ohio overpaid on thousands of unemployment compensation claims last year:

More (than) 110,000 claims from throughout Ohio last year saw over payments totaling $87.3 million in 2012. The state also recovered $43 million in overpaid funds in 2012.

- Vincent Jackson Jr., housed at the Lorain County jail, is racking up a hefty bill as his stay draws onward into the fifth year. According to The Morning Journal:

“As of (yesterday’s) date, the hospital stay for Vincent Jackson, to include therapy along with the other associated cost of his medical care as a result of the stroke he suffered, stands at $110,429.60,” said Capt. Jack Hammond, director of corrections for the sheriff’s office. “This does not include the cost of the deputies that had to guard him.”

He has pleaded innocent to charges of aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and having weapons while under disability, according to court records.

The case was drawn out because it was complicated by the stroke and obtaining his criminal records from Illinois, said Jackson’s attorney, J. Anthony Rich.

- In Lakewood, an absurd case of private property rights vs. historic preservation is just simply not letting up. Neighbors in the city's wealthy Overlook Park neighborhood have banded together to try and save an Edgewater Drive mansion via historic preservation status. The Planning Commission shot that request down, but neighbors filed an appeal this week. The homeowners in question, meanwhile, don't want the house to receive the historic designation. They want to knock it down and rebuild anew. It's ridiculousness on a level that only Lakewood could provide. Colin McEwen's Patch has the details.